Trust in Union Leaders and Decline in Union Membership

• Main Author: Francois, Seth Ellery
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: ScholarWorks 2017
• Subjects: Consideration; Initiation; Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire XII; Leadership; Trust; Union Decline; Ethics and Political Philosophy; Labor Economics; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/4219; https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5322&context=dissertations

As of 2015, public opinion of the ethical and honesty standards of labor union leaders was low, with 36% of the public reporting a low or very low rating, and only 18% reporting high or very high ratings. Grounded in leadership behavioral theory, the purpose of this correlation study was to examine the relationship between union members' perceptions of union leadership consideration, union members' perceptions of leadership initiation of structure, and union members' perceptions of leadership trust. Forty-four union members completed a brief demographic survey, the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire XII, and the Trust and Employee Satisfaction Survey. The results of simultaneous linear regression indicated that model as a whole was able to significantly predict union members' perceptions of leadership trust, F(2,41) = 10.40, p < .001, R2 = .30. Leadership consideration was the only significantly predictor of union members' perceptions of leadership trust (β = .62, t = 3.23, p = .002). The results may have significance for social change; union leaders can implement leadership consideration to improve the trust levels of members towards union leaders. Further social change implications include the potential to increase union membership. Moreover, society benefits when strong labor unions can provide a pathway to checks and balances that subsequently may improve employees working conditions, worker's pay, local economy, and produce higher quality goods and services.